The mechanical derangements in the acutely injured lung have long been ascribed, in large part, to altered mechanical function at the alveolar level. This has not been directly demonstrated, however, so we investigated the issue in a rat model of over-inflation injury. Following thoracotomy, rats were mechanically ventilated with either 1) high tidal volume (Vt), or 2) low Vt with periodic deep...

Chronic pulmonary emphysema may be defined by many standards but at present is demonstrable directly by morphologic examination. Clinically, the major complaint is dyspnea, and this must be associated with increased expiratory airway resistance and hyperinflation of the lungs with actual destruction of alveolar wall structure . Pathologically, emphysema is a disease affecting the acinus (basic ...

Pulmonary drug administration requires direct delivery of drug formulations into the lower pulmonary tract and alveoli of the lung in the form of inhaled particles or droplets, providing a distinct advantage over other methods for the treatment of respiratory diseases: the drug can be delivered directly to the site of inflammation, thus reducing the need for systemic exposure and the possibilit...

STUDY OBJECTIVE To observe (1) whether the reperfusion is one of the causes underlying the development of diffuse alveolar injury following pulmonary embolism, and (2) whether polymorphonuclear leukocyte (PMN) accumulation occurs in the reperfused lobe, and (3) whether the production of superoxide is increased from cells obtained by BAL. DESIGN The condition of pulmonary embolism was simulate...

The left pulmonary artery and ductus arteriosus were ligated in 14 pigs at birth. Animals were killed at intervals between two and 24 weeks of age. In all animals, serial chest radiographs were taken. In eight animals, nitrogen-13 lung function studies showed normal fractional ventilation in both lungs and continued growth of the small left lung. After death, the fixed inflated volume was deter...

In cirrhotic patients, alveolar nitric oxide (NO) concentration is increased. This may be secondary to increased output of NO produced by the alveoli (V'(A,NO)) and/or to decreased lung transfer factor of NO. In advanced liver cirrhosis, NO produced by the alveoli may play a role in abnormalities of pulmonary haemodynamics and gas exchanges. In cirrhotic patients, we aimed to measure V'(A,NO) a...

Acid administered to rabbits by intrabronchial insufflation causes an immediate and extreme damage of the lung tissue. Within certain limits the degree and extent of the injury vary according to the concentration of the acid. With the greater concentrations death occurs promptly, almost immediately, and the lethal process has associated with it a decreased permeability of the pulmonary vessels....

Establishing the 3D architecture and morphometry of the intact pulmonary acinus is an essential step toward a more complete understanding of the relationship of lung structure and function. We combined a special fixation method with a unique volumetric nondestructive imaging technique and image processing tools to separate individual acini in the mouse lung. Interior scans of the parenchyma at ...

Introduction Because hyperpolarized Xe gas NMR signals can result in four to five orders of magnitude polarization enhancement compared to thermal equilibrium signals even at high fields , hyperpolarized Xe gas MRI has shown great promise for lung imaging. Scientists have developed many techniques to assess lung properties, such as ADC (apparent diffusion coefficient) , XTC (Xenon polarization ...

The swine-origin H1N1 virus which emerged in 2009 resulted in the first influenza pandemic of the 21(st) century. Although the majority of infections were moderate, a significant proportion of infections were severe and characterized by acute respiratory distress syndrome and pulmonary edema. We compared two isolates from the 2009 H1N1 pandemic; A/California/07/09 (CA/07) and A/Netherlands/602/...